Review: ‘Carnage for Christmas’ brings bloody holiday cheer

2024 is bringing out all the slasher-ific holiday cheer. In addition to Terrifier 3, which sees Art the Clown donning a Santa suit, we have Alice Maio Mackay’s latest feature to bestow you with a little December frost. Carnage for Christmas arrives as Mackway’s crowning achievement in her still-young career. Coming off other essentials like Bad Girl Boogey and T-Blockers, the filmmaker reaches new heights in her work.

Visually arresting, the bloody picture doesn’t skimp on its potent messaging about being trans in an increasingly volatile world. Vera Drew supplies hypnotic transitions and editing, boosting the film even further into the stratosphere. Coming in at a brisk 70 minutes, Carnage for Christmas nestles snuggly somewhere between Christmas Bloody Christmas and Silent Night, Deadly Night – with a pinch of queer delight.

When true-crime podcaster Lola (Jeremy Moineau) returns to her hometown for the first time since transitioning, she faces off against more than just bigots that still pollute the otherwise idyllic neighborhood. Lola’s presence brings an urban myth back to life, a savage force that seeks to rip the town apart. Quite the sleuth she is, it’s a race against time to put the pieces together before another unfortunate soul gets a lump of coal shoved down their throat. Splashes of blood and, well, carnage decorate suburban America, giving the audience plenty of delicious gore to sink their teeth into.

It’s an absolute slaughterhouse! With bodies hitting the floor, Lola and the masked killer draw closer to one another – and it appears the murderous Santa Claus may just be somebody she already knows. Her life becomes a sacrifice – but not if she can help it.

In her usual approach, Mackay entices you into her stylishly creepy world, wrapping plump color and fragile camera work around the viewer. There’s something to be said about such a young voice in horror already having strong, undeniable visual signatures that leave such a mark that you can’t help but be haunted by it long after the credits roll. Cinematographer Aaron Schuppan also deserves plenty of credit for their work behind the camera, allowing the color temperatures and palettes to feel fresh, exciting, and skin-squirming. Schuppan, who’s worked on all of Mackaway’s films to date, and the director make a dynamite creative duo in the way they shape their worlds and hypnotize you to stick around.

While Christmas slashers have thrived for decades – from the groundbreaking Black Christmas to the little-known Silent Night, Bloody Night – we can now add Carnage for Christmas as a surefire holiday essential. It might be August, but it’s never too early to get in the holiday spirit.

Follow B-Sides & Badlands on our socials: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram